∘₊✧ 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 ✧₊∘

•❃𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛❃•

Prologue: You're now reading from Yuji's perspective on the first day of his sophomore year in a new school, reunited with his high school friends.

୨⎯ The Unexpected⎯୧
The summer had been a blur of sunshine and laughter, a time capsule of memories shared with her, a girl whose smile could light up the darkest of days.

But as the summer waned, so did our communication, fading into a silence that wasn't chosen but forced upon me. The last day we spent together was etched in my mind, a promise to reconnect hanging between us, fragile and unfulfilled.

Then came the fall, bringing with it a return to the reality of college life and the unexpected shock of seeing her again on my first day as a sophomore.

I was with my two best friends, Megumi and Nobara. Megumi, the ever-analytical brain of our trio, noticed her first, giving me a nudge and a knowing look. Nobara, whose empathy knew no bounds, squeezed my shoulder, her gesture a silent whisper of support.

There she was, standing across the quad, a vision that pulled at every thread of regret woven through my heart. The sight of her struck me with a wave of emotions, a mixture of joy and dread. Joy, because seeing her was like finding a piece of myself that I didn't know was missing.

Dread, because I knew the hurt that lay in her eyes was a reflection of my silence over the summer. I had disappeared, vanished without a word, leaving her with questions and a void that I was supposed to fill.

I couldn't afford a new phone after mine broke early into the summer. It seemed like a simple fix, but between the part-time job at the bar that barely covered my tuition and the scholarships that demanded my every waking moment, buying a new phone felt like a luxury I couldn't justify.

I scribbled letters that sat unsent, their words a poor substitute for the sound of my voice. I rehearsed explanations in my head, apologies that felt increasingly inadequate as the days turned into weeks and then months.

I wanted to try approaching her today but it seemed like she was trying to avoid me. I decided to wait another day for the right time to apologize to her.

Time passed and we were dismissed from our first day at college as sophomores. Me and my friends decided to hang out after school.

Hanging out with my two best friends after school was always the highlight of my day in high school and now I got to continue doing just that as a sophomore in college. There's just something about leaving the confines of school, shedding the roles we play from 8 to 3, and just being ourselves.

Today was no different, or so I thought. We decided to hit our usual spot, a local diner that's a bit of a dive but has the best fries and shakes in town. It was the perfect place to decompress, to laugh about whatever happened during the day, and just enjoy being young without a care in the world.

Me(Yuji): "You know, I've heard if we study in a haunted house, the adrenaline rush makes us remember things better. How about it?"

Nobara: "Great plan! And if we fail the test, we can always say a ghost sabotaged our study session. Perfect excuse."

Me(Yuji): "Exactly! It's foolproof. Speaking of the test, have I told you about my new study technique? It's called 'osmotic learning.' I sleep with my textbook under my pillow and hope the information seeps into my brain through osmosis."

Nobara: "Oh, so that's your secret! Here I am, like a sucker, actually reading the textbook. Wait, does this mean if I eat my notes, I'll digest the information better?"

Me(Yuji): "Only if you season them well. Plain paper tastes terrible and the information might not stick. Maybe add some hot sauce for those really tough concepts."

Nobara: "Hot sauce for the difficult parts, got it. Maybe sprinkle some sugar on the summary pages for a sweet conclusion."

Me(Yuji): "Exactly. And for the math section, just bake your formulas into a pie. Pi tastes better that way."

Nobara: "Brilliant! We're going to revolutionize studying. We'll start a trend: 'Gastronomical Learning.' The sweeter the subject, the better the grades."

Me(Yuji): "I can see it now: 'Eat Your Way to an A.' We'll be academic celebrities. Forget study groups; we'll host dinner parties."

Nobara: "Yes, and for every failed test, a food fight to determine the curve. It's the only fair way to grade."

Yuji : "Perfect! Education has never been so delicious."

Megumi: "You guys are the most idiotic people I've ever met."

Me and Nobara let out our loud cackles and our conversations went on.

As we slid into our usual booth, the conversation naturally veered towards the day's events. School drama, upcoming tests, the usual. But, as I listened to my friends, my mind couldn't help but drift to an unexpected encounter I had earlier.

There she was, the girl I dated over the summer, the girl I unintentionally ghosted because my phone decided to take a permanent vacation. Seeing her today was like reopening a chapter I thought I had clumsily closed.

For a moment, amidst the surprise and awkward glances, I thought I saw a flicker of... something. Could I finally have the chance to explain? To apologize?But as quickly as that hope appeared, it was replaced by a heavy sense of dread.

What if she didn't want to hear it? What if she hated me? The mixture of happiness and sadness was a weird cocktail of emotions I wasn't prepared to handle.Noticing my sudden shift in mood, my friends quickly tuned in to my silence.

They're good like that, always picking up on the unsaid, the spaces between words. I spilled the story, leaving nothing out, not even the part where I hoped, however foolishly, that she might still care.

They didn't miss a beat. Jokes started flying, the kind that's only funny because it's your friends saying them, and you know it's all in good humor. They reminded me of the time we tried to cook and nearly set the kitchen on fire, or the time we got lost on what was supposed to be a simple hike.

Laughter, genuine and warm, began to fill our little corner of the diner. But it wasn't just the jokes. They offered perspectives I hadn't considered, like the fact that, yes, I messed up, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Megumi pointed out that owning up to my mistakes was the first step, and who knows, maybe she'd appreciate the honesty. Or maybe she wouldn't. But at least I'd have tried, and there's a certain peace in that.

Their support, their relentless optimism, and their unwavering belief in me... it did more than just cheer me up. It gave me a kind of courage I didn't know I needed.

Maybe things wouldn't go back to the way they were, and maybe that's okay. But I wouldn't know until I tried. And with friends like these by my side, I felt ready to face whatever came next.